Two fires send residents fleeing home, apartments

Woman treated for chest pains, pets killed in separate blazes

Two Beaverton-area fires Saturday displaced eight people and killed two pets.

In the first fire, Saturday morning in Aloha, a mother and her 9-year-old daughter were forced from their Aloha home.

In the second fire, at about 3 p.m., six people had to leave their apartments in a Southwest Nadina Court four-plex. One of the units was destroyed in the blaze and the tenant's dog perished in the fire.

The Oregon Trail chapter of the American Red Cross is working with families in both incidents to find shelter.

At about 9 a.m., firefighters with Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue were called to a three-bedroom house at 19455 S.W. Sharoaks Drive where a fire caused about $60,000 damage to the rental home.

The daughter was awakened by the fire and alerted her mother. They ran to a neighbor's house and called emergency dispatchers.

No one was injured in the fire. Fire investigators believe it might have been caused by a space heater placed too close to material.

At about 3:15 p.m., a fire blasted through one unit of a four-plex at 12175 S.W. Nadina Court, sending six people running for safety.

It took about 30 firefighters five to six minutes to control the blaze.

Walt Peck, Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue spokesman, said the fire was confined to the unit on the southern end of the four-plex. The three other units had smoke damage, but were otherwise undamaged, Peck said.

'The southern-most unit went up in a big way,' he said. 'It was completely lost.'

Complicating the situation were powerlines that fell during the fire and were still active, Peck said. The fire in the unit was so hot that it sent the powerlines flopping to the street.

No one was injured in the fire, but the tenant of the burned unit was treated at a local hospital for chest pains after the blaze.